


Quiet Moments

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other, ski lodge! Snowed in! Friendship talks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Peter decides it’s time to have a talk with Remus about all his pining...
Relationships: Friendship - Relationship, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 16
Kudos: 11
Collections: Marauders on Tour





	Quiet Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [Marauders_on_Tour](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Marauders_on_Tour) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Trapped in at a ski-lodge with snow-where-to-go

* * *

“You should tell her,” Peter says, and it’s all Remus can do to swallow a groan and further biting remarks. “I think it’s time you did.” 

“ _ WE KNEW IT!”  _ Moony begins barking in triumph, and Remus doesn’t bother suppressing the pained sound loosened from his chest this time. It’s a lost cause now that his wolf is awake, prancing and strutting about in his mind—and Remus had such high hopes for a quiet and peaceful day of forgetting the painful matters of the heart while being snowed-in with Peter. 

Obviously, he’s mistaken. 

“It’s not that simple, Peter,” he manages to quietly answer, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And you’re one to talk, if i’m reading the signs correctly.” It’s a cheap shot, and Remus knows it is. Friends shouldn’t deflect their troubles by shining light on the other’s. So he sighs and admits precisely that to Peter, adding at the end, “Not used to this time difference yet, and work’s been a nightmare lately. I’ll be happy to be back in England soon.” 

He drops his hand to find Peter’s arm extended, proffering a steaming cuppa. He mumbles a sentence of gratitude as he accepts the offering, knowing this is Peter’s way of opening conversation. His friend has always been uncomfortable confronting potentially obtuse situations without something to soothe the itch and ire of the topic…

And as they’re bloody well snowed-in this sodding cabin in the middle of nowhere Canada until the rest of the Gryffindors arrive… It seems Remus has no alternative but to participate.

He blows at the steam over his mug, caught in the way it curls and spirals up from the heated beverage. He absently asks, “What makes you say that? They’ve only been broken up two months this time—their record is four months before getting back together.” 

“It’s different this time,” Peter answers, and Remus lifts his eyes to his friend’s kind brown eyes. Moony’s tail wags in hope as Peter's lips bow up in a faint smile. “And please don’t make me explain myself with that. I just know it is. Her eyes would get that spark around the flat whenever she’d talk about letters you’d written her. She and James never did much together this last time around—I think it was more a last clinging to comfort before realising they’d both outgrown each other, honestly.” He shrugs, innocent of the knowledge that Moony is currently purring in smug satisfaction. “I’ve got a feeling… And what have you got to lose?” 

“ _ Me too!”  _

Remus sips his tea, affording Moony a moment of gleeful plotting. It’s the least he can do after making him suffer through Paris in the  _ spring _ … With all the flowers and rain and coffee and wine… 

And snogging tourists everywhere. 

“D’you think James will have a fit over it?” Of course, Peter can only give his opinion, and while James has joined Sirius and Peter to spend every full moon in Paris with Remus, it’s not like there’s ever been a good time to walk up and ask if the bloke would give his permission for Remus to make a move on his on-again-off-again witch… 

Whether it's more fear or loyalty that’s stayed his tongue, Remus isn’t entirely sure. 

“ _ Both _ .” Moony’s confident in his assessment, ears twitching for Peter’s answer. “ _ Loyal and afraid is who we are. Always.”  _

“Talk to him first if you want.” Peter’s smile stretches halfway up his face as he sips from his own mug now. “I know Moony’s got this thing about pack loyalty, and you’ve battled this fear of insufficiency since we’ve known you, but you love deeper and stronger than all that, mate.” Peter pauses for another sip and Remus is struck dumb. 

Absolutely dumb. 

He blinks at his friend as Moony’s ears continue to twitch, a slow grin curling over his glinting teeth as he sits. 

Peter finally looks back to him, and his brows quirk in confusion. “What?” 

“Nothing.” Remus shakes his head. “It’s just… I think sometimes I forget that you know me as well as you do—which makes me sound a complete nutter as I hear the words aloud.” 

“Oh, that you are, but I already knew that.” Peter drums his fingers over the white porcelain mug. “But I get what you mean. James has that big heart of gold and is always loud and bold with his gestures. Sirius has Padfoot that Moony’s especially bonded with, and it’s easy to forget the quiet friendships. I don’t forget you, though. Even if it feels like I might have.” 

Remus is speechless again. “Thank you” feels insufficient against the weight of such a deep admission, but Remus utters the words nonetheless. They move on to other topics, but Moony is plotting all the while. Plotting how to talk to Prongs, then Lily, and then Peter again—he’s seen the lingering looks Peter’s given Alice when the witch is otherwise occupied… 

And it strikes Remus that sometimes it's the quiet friends who’ve always been there that are the ones who understand you the most. 

* * *

It’s nothing short of miraculous the difference a week of snow and skiing can have. James laughs when Remus brings up Lily and claps him on the shoulder. “It’s about damn time, mate,” James says, and that’s as much of a blessing as Remus knows he’ll get from his lifelong friend. His packman. 

Lily hasn’t left his side since they talked and came to an understanding of their… feelings. She hasn’t slept in the girl’s cabin since then, either—not that there’s been opportunity for all the physical pleasures and exploration that he and Moony would have enjoyed. He tells himself it’s enough that she falls asleep in his arms every night on the sofa facing the fire. 

“ _ For now,”  _ Moony snorts, and Remus agrees. They blush and flush as they wake in tangles of limbs and quilts, both keenly aware of hormones, feelings, each other, and… well,  _ hardness _ before leaving their cocoon of warmth for the day.

Moony hums and cooes over “ _ Mate,”  _ constantly, and it’s contented bliss like this that gives Remus the courage to have the reverse conversation with Peter. They both agree that Alice likely won’t reciprocate his feelings, and things may be awkward for awhile… 

And they are. It’s about five months until they’re all able to sit as a group again without nervous chittering and throat clearings to start off each gathering.

Two months after that, though, Remus is looking at rings for Lily, and Peter meets a witch: a new transfer in his department at the Ministry. Moony can smell the romance blooming from the first time Peter introduces her to the pack. 

A year after that, Peter is best man at Remus and Lily’s wedding. Sirius is best man at James’ another three months later, while Peter asks Remus to stand at his side a month later. It’s probably silly that a simple gesture means so much, but neither Remus nor Moony can bring themselves to care. This all began with a simple conversation, and perhaps it’s in life’s simple, quiet moments that the greatest memories are made. 


End file.
